Shattered Pieces
by Kyoko0001
Summary: It wasn't often that Seishiro found something that piqued his interest: An innocent little kitten with the prettiest green eyes and a captivating naivety in its soft stare. He knew right there and then that Subaru would be his. His to pamper, to break and to pull apart piece by piece until there was nothing left.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This is a sister fic to my TRC AU 私に薬の 主人を呼んではいけない. You don't need to read that story to understand this one and they can both be read as stand alones. That being said, this fic takes place 18 years before the start of 私に薬の 主人を呼んではいけない and focuses on Seishiro and Subaru and how they became the couple we see in the main story. **

**Please keep in mind that the dynamics in this AU are very similar to TB cannon and so will contain underaged material as well as major character death. I don't usually write this sort of thing and it's not meant to be sexy. I want to show how Subaru and Seishiro push and pull against each other and work things out into a long term relationship stemming from the initial abuse.**

**While the legal age of consent in japan is 13 and Subaru is older than that by a few years, I still feel the need to tag this fic as such.**

**There are minor mentions of suicide in regards to side characters but other than that this story is no better or worse then cannon in regards to triggers. **

**I do not own any of CLAMP's characters. Please enjoy! **

0o0o0

Seishiro tucked the glock that was on his bedside table into the back waistband of his sweats before heading to the front door. Either he had some annoying Mormons to glare down or unwanted company.

Given the shit that had gone down last night?

He wanted to be prepared in either case.

Seishiro checked the peephole and frowned in confusion when he was only able to catch the top of someone's head—that confusion only grew when he picked up on a soft voice whispering something in a soothing tone before there was another knock on the door.

Unlocking the door, he pulled it open and his confusion tripled when he found that there were two kids on the other side of his door. His little brother was holding some doe-eyed boy's hand, looking absolutely pitiful.

Said doe-eyed boy's cheeks flushed bright red as his eyes scanned Seishiro up and down—lingering on his shirtless torso a little longer than was probably appropriate—before snapping down to focus on the floor in front of him.

Interesting.

Fuuma was not at all bothered by his disheveled and half naked appearance and Seishiro found himself with his brother giving one of his legs a quick hug before flashing him a toothy grin that only served to make him look even more pitiful, given the tears and snot smears.

Before Seishio had a chance to ask Fuuma why he was here and not at home, the doe eyed boy bowed slightly and started to stutter out an apology.

"I am really sorry if we caught you at a bad time." The boy straightened back up to his full height but kept his eyes focused on the ground between them and Seishiro found the corner of his lip curling. "My name is Subaru Sumeragi. My little brother is friends with Fuuma and when my sister and I went to pick him up today, it seems like Fuuma's mother was running late again. I stayed back to wait with him—"

Seishiro didn't even need to listen to the rest—that whore didn't show up, obviously—and Fuuma had given the boy his older brother's address…

Perfect.

He would have to have words with their father. Again. It was time to cut that one loose. Fuuma was more than old enough, now.

"—well, there was no one at the house and Fuuma told me that you live here, and well… here we are. I'm really very sorry!" Subaru bowed again—this time all the way down to the waist and Seishiro found himself sighing.

"Why are you apologizing to me?" Seishiro found himself asking without much thought and quickly followed it up. "My family has inconvenienced you. Thank you for seeing him here safely."

The pleasantries were recited with a practiced grace. Seishiro offered the boy a smile and watched his cheeks flash an even brighter red.

He had no idea why he found this child to be so interesting—but Seishiro was almost tempted to invite the boy in. His striking green eyes were soft and curious and for whatever reason, he was blushing up a storm. Figure slim and lanky—expected, given his young age of course—but overall beautiful in a way you didn't often see.

Kind, as well.

An innocent kindness that would likely come to bite this boy, eventually.

Seishiro could make sure of it if he lingered too long and continued to pique his curiosity.

"Oh, it was no bother at all." Subaru raised both his hands up in front of him and waved them disarmingly as he smiled down at Fuuma, his brother returning the grin and stepping closer to Subaru again.

Seishiro very rarely listened to a single thing his brother said and he tuned out whatever it was this time, as well. Though he listened very carefully to Subaru's response and he watched the boy like a hawk as bent over and gave Fuuma a tight squeeze—his eyes lingering on how nice he looked bent over in that uniform.

"Any time, little guy. You have my number now, so if you ever need me, just call, ok? I'm always happy to help." Subaru fished a handkerchief out of his bag, mopped at the mess on Fuuma's face and ruffled the younger child's hair before straightening and turning his attention back to Seishiro.

He blushed again—as though having forgotten that Seishiro was half undressed—but lovely green eyes held his own as he spoke. "If it's ok to leave him here with you, I have to catch the next bus back over to Shinjuku."

Normally, Seishiro would have simply thanked him, ushered his kid brother inside and thought nothing more of it. That would be a shame, though, considering how unique this child was. So instead, he hummed low in his throat and asked him a question. "Do you live all the way over there?"

That was on the other side of the city and Seishiro may didn't frequent public transit—but it would be quite the commute for such a delicate thing to make at night.

Alone.

To a bad neighborhood, no less.

"Yes." Subaru nodded once and Seishiro hummed again—it really had been an inconvenience, making the fact that the boy had ventured all the way out here all the more impressive. Surely, he could have alerted one of the school officials rather than taking the time to run Fuuma all the way out here.

"Give me a moment and I'll drive you." Again, Seishiro found himself speaking without thinking—though he didn't necessarily regret the offer.

Not when the boy's cheeks were heating up again and his eyes grew impossibly wide. "T—that's ok. I don't want to be a bother and I am sure that Fuuma is getting hungry and—"

"Good point. We'll grab dinner on the way, my treat. You must be hungry as well." Seishiro smiled to reassure the boy and stepped away from the door, retreating back into the apartment—a silent order to follow, leaving no room for argument.

Fuuma grabbed Subaru's hand and tugged him in with the same hyperactive enthusiasm he always seemed to have and that was that.

Seishiro was very interested in Subaru—and dinner was the perfect excuse to observe this kitten.

Well aware of the fact that there was still a glock tucked into the back of his sweats, he ignored the boy's surprised gasp as he continued down the hall. Closing himself into his room, he listened to the faint sound of Fuuma's ever present chatter right up until he got into the shower.

When he shut the water off and came back out to the main bedroom, he could still hear them in the living room—a soft whisper of Subaru's calm tone answered by a far less excited Fuuma.

Interesting.

Grabbing his phone off the charger next to the bed, Seishiro shot his father a quick text letting him know that he had Fuuma—the whore didn't pick up him again—and that he was going to take him to get a quick bite and run an errand before dropping him off at the house.

He didn't wait for a response before tucking his cell and wallet into the back pocket of his slacks and pulled on a sweater. When he headed back out of his room and up the hallway, he found his lip curling into another smile.

Subaru and Fuuma were sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table—the second grader frowning over a worksheet from school that Subaru was helping him with. "Try underlining the question."

"But how am I supposed to know? I hate story problems!" Fuuma whined dramatically and Subaru's soft smile really suited the delicate features of his face.

Well—Seishiro thought so, anyways. How anyone could smile at his brother's obnoxious whining was beyond him, but it was a nice look, nonetheless.

"Just like this… I will read you the paragraph and you tell me which sentence is the question." Subaru borrowed the pencil from Fuuma and the child scowled down at the page as the older boy started to read—pointing at each word with the tip of the pencil as he said them aloud.

Something about boys and girls and if there would be enough apples—Seishiro was about as interested in the whole thing as Fuuma was, but he watched them work, nonetheless.

Fuuma pointed and Subaru smiled again. "Very good! Now that we know the question, we can read it again to find the information we need to solve the question. I like to circle it so it's easy to find again."

"This is too hard!" Fuuma whined again and Subaru shook his head back and forth.

Seishiro watched as Subaru all but held his brother's hand and walked him through the obnoxiously simple math problem step by step for the next 15 minutes. While the subject matter was beyond boring—the patience Subaru had was interesting enough.

It wasn't until he walked out of the dark hallway and into the well lit living room that either of the boys noticed him and Subaru froze mid sentence as they locked eyes.

Fear?

Well—the gun should have spooked the little kitten.

It was a scary thing and Subaru should be much more careful about who he associated with—what houses he wandered up to, after all.

There was more to that look, though—his rigid posture oozed unease, of course—but those green eyes were curious.

So so very curious.

Seishiro leaned against the wall next to the large flat screen and smiled again, hoping to seem friendly. He was good at playing nice when the urge struck him—and he wondered how far he would need to push this act to have the kitten eating out of the palm of his hand.

"You're kind enough to bring him home and now you're even helping him with his school work? How can I ever repay you?" Seishiro chuckled and Subaru blinked at him. Unsure and confused, most likely.

He had to wonder what exactly was going on behind those large green eyes.

"I don't mind. If I was home, I would be doing this with my own little brother." Subaru smiled so brightly that he had to close his eyes and as interesting as he found his eyes—this, too, was a nice look on his boyish face.

"Don't you have to go home and help your own brother, still?" Honestly, Seishiro didn't really care—but he wanted to hear Subaru talk.

It wasn't often that he cared enough to learn more about someone—but he had to know if he really was as 'sugar and spice' as he seemed—or if it was an act.

Was he afraid or friendly? Was he playing nice or was he trying to rationalize away in his own mind what he had seen. Perhaps convince himself that he hadn't seen the glock? Perhaps rationalize that Seishiro must have a good reason? Or was he terrified and just trying not to anger the older man?

Seishiro wanted to get to the bottom of it before he let the child go.

"Oh, no. My sister will help him. I already let her know I would be home a little later." Subaru glanced back down at the worksheet and upon finding Fuuma working quietly on the next problem, he refocused his attention back onto the older man.

"A brother and a sister?" Again—Seishiro could care less about his family, but the subtle smile that settled over the boy's features was well worth the effort of asking.

Why would Subaru be telling him about his family if he was afraid?

"I have a twin sister and a little brother just younger than Fuuma… Do you—" Subaru's hesitated as though he were worried he might be overstepping. "Do you and Fuuma have any more siblings?"

"No. It's just us." Subaru nodded at his answer and looked down at his hands. Seishiro waited a moment before he himself pushed off the wall and stepped closer to the pair. "Twin sister, hm? That must be interesting. Do you two look like?"

That earned him an awkward laugh and Subaru looked up again to watch him cross the room. "People ask us if we're identical twins a lot… even though she's a girl and I obviously a boy."

"Obviously?" He teased, and Subaru's eyes went wonderfully wide again as he pulled the slider open—ignoring his reaction completely. "Care to join me?"

Subaru blinked once, twice—then his mind seemed to catch up with him. "Oh um… I don't smoke…"

"No, but I didn't want to ditch you with the 7 year old. We can talk while he finishes up his schoolwork, then we will get going." Seishiro was careful to phrase his suggestion in a way that Subaru would feel rude for declining—and it worked like a charm.

The boy climbed to his feet with surprising grace and smiled softly as he stepped past him onto the balcony. For it being early fall, the weather was surprisingly agreeable and the soft breeze that floated through the air was warm enough that the lithe boy didn't seem chilly.

It wasn't as though Seshiro couldn't lend the kitten a sweater if he started shivering.

Seishiro pulled the sliding glass door closed to muffle their conversation and watched as Subaru admired the view with childish wonder. Curious eyes scanned the Tokyo skyline that was backlit by the sunset, leaning as far over the railing of the balcony as would be considered safe.

"Wow."

Seishiro had seen it hundreds of times by now and generally wasn't a stop-and-smell-the-roses kinda guy. Saying so would no doubt only serve to make the boy uncomfortable, so instead, he hummed in agreement and leaned back against the same railing while he lit a cigarette.

A silence fell between the two of them and Seishiro couldn't tell you if it was a comfortable one or not. Subaru was scanning the view and seemed perfectly content at first—and the older man was just as content watching him.

Seishiro was about halfway finished with his cigarette when Subaru seemed to get lost in thought—his expression having slowly settled into one of worry. Clenched jaw, furrowed brows and slightly narrowed eyes tipping off his distress.

When he finished his first cigarette and lit a second, the boy didn't seem to notice one way or the other and Seishiro had to wonder where his mind had taken him. "Something wrong?"

Green eyes looked from the skyline down to the street below and Seishiro watched him open his mouth to answer, only to snap it shut again. He repeated that action a few times before Subaru finally managed to answer.

"I don't want to overstep… I know I am just a kid and all but... " the boy's words trailed off and he turned to look at Seishiro.

He just silently waited for the kitten to continue. Subaru was scanning his features, trying to get a read on him, most likely, and he found that very amusing. Seishiro didn't know this kitten well enough to make an educated guess as to what he could say next—and he was intrigued by the child's intentions.

"Is Fuuma ok here with you? I can take him with if… um…" Green eyes looked back down and Subaru looked as though he instantly regretted the words that had just left his mouth.

If he wasn't 'safe' what did this little kitten plan on doing about it?

"What makes you think he would not be ok?" Seishiro kept his tone emotionless and stood up to his full height as he took another long drag off of his cigarette—blowing the smoke out above Subaru's head while he down looked at him through half lidded eyes.

To his surprise—that beautiful child did not shrink back at the staredown. The look from earlier, the one he had flashed when Seishiro had re-entered the room, was back—this time, he was certain it was fear and yet the boy did not back down.

"The gun." Subaru might have whispered but didn't look away.

Again… what did this kitten plan to do against a gun, anyway?

"What about it?" Seishiro took another long drag—this time he blew it directly into the boy's face and while he coughed, he didn't otherwise react.

If anything, he seemed to pack even more courage into his next answer and Seishiro again found his lips curling into a pleased smile. "Are you a police officer or something?"

"No."

Subaru frowned at him for nearly a minute and Seishiro only looked away to tap the ash into the nearby ashtray. He could see the boy's mind racing behind those green eyes and the faster it raced, the more intrigued Seishiro became.

This brave little kitten was really naive enough to get between someone who was bigger, older and stronger than him because he thought there might be some sort of danger for Fuuma?

Seishiro had lived his life thus far thinking that senseless chivalry and honor were dead in this world. If there was anything he had learned—it was that humans were self servicing, vile creatures—they never did anything if there was not something in it for themselves in the end.

Such was human nature.

And yet… here was sweet Subaru… in knots over some perceived danger to some random kid.

"I can take him with me… I'll just leave a note with his mother, so she doesn't worry." Subaru offered after a few minutes.

Seishiro didn't know what he had assumed—it didn't really matter, he supposed. It seemed that sweet Subaru may be naive—but at least he wasn't dumb. He understood the difference between them, given that offer. Seishiro may not get to put the boy in his place physically—but the game was far from over.

"You don't need to bother with a note. That woman won't even notice he's missing, I can assure you." He watched as shock washed over those delicate features and he couldn't help that his mind wandered to all the things he could do that would shock this beautifully naive, overly kind boy.

"W—why wouldn't she…" He finally looked down and shock turned to sadness.

So many feelings in such a short amount of time.

All of them more interesting and lovely than the last.

"I can almost guarantee you that that woman is higher than a kite and forgot him. Again." Seishiro made a point of looking in through the sliding glass door at his brother.

Fuuma was good at taking care of himself, just like Seishiro had been. His own mother had been a waste of oxygen, as well—he could attest that you just figured it out one way or another.

Granted, the kid was quite a bit more sensitive than he himself had been at that age—but his mother hadn't lost it until 'father dearest' had gotten a new favorite plaything and banished her to 'that house' three years ago.

That was usually when they broke. They had all expected it. She had kept it together long enough for that brat to be almost normal save for his new tendency to 'snap' into fits of rage and trash anything he could get his grubby fingers on.

"I—I didn't know… I'm… I'm so sorry… about your mom…" The sweet kitten wrapped his arms around his own midsection protectively and Seishio half expected to see tears.

He found himself chuckling darkly and Subaru's attention snapped from what was going on indoors back to the older man. "I don't know why you're apologizing to me. That woman's not my mother and you didn't make her that way."

Green doe eyes blinked at him a few times before being turned back towards Fuuma. "I know it's not my fault but— but that's so sad. I hope your mom is nicer, though…"

Oh, this sweet kitten was just baiting him with answers like that.

"Well, since she's dead, she's less of a thorn in my side, that's for certain. Nice, though?." Seishiro took another long drag of his cigarette to cover his smile at Subaru's reaction and shrugged.

He was fun to play with.

"I'm—Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry—I—" Subaru covered his mouth with his hands and he really looked as though he were about to burst into tears, now.

Be it horror from stepping on so many of what he thought to be sore subjects in a row—or because the subject matter itself was upsetting—it didn't matter.

That was such a pure reaction and he was starting to convince Seishiro that he really might just have a soul as white as snow. He wanted to see how far he could push the boy. He might just be able to make him cry before he finished his cigarette.

Seishiro could only imagine how lovely those vibrant green eyes looked rimmed in red, how tears would highlight his full childlike cheeks… long wet lashes fluttering as he tried to blink his vision clear?

It would be breathtaking.

"You look like you're about to cry and you're apologizing for things that are not your fault." Raising his cigarette to his lips, he placed it in the corner and held it in place with a light pressure before taking a few steps forward.

The balcony wasn't huge and Subaru was not far. He reached for the kitten before he could think to back away and gripped his chin between his thumb and forefinger, tilting it up so the boy would have no choice but to look him in the eye.

"Why is that?"

Seishiro heard the small gasp as Subaru's breath hitched, he watched as his cheeks started to heat up and he could see both fear and curiosity in those eyes again.

Subaru was definitely unique, there was no denying that.

"Because…" the kitten's voice shook and he paused to swallow. "That had to be so painful for you…"

Seishiro nodded once but didn't release his hold on Subaru's face—totally baffled by why he cared about a total stranger's pain. A stranger that, moments ago, he thought was going to hurt his own brother?

"Everybody dies. Why mourn for some woman you've never met?" That question seemed to stump the boy and Seishiro had no intention of letting him go until he answered.

He needed to know.

Was this child really just that purely innocent? Was he saying what he thought was expected of him? What motivated him?

"It's the living that carry the burdens of the dead. I'm not sad about a woman I have never met… I am sad because I see a human in front of me who has lost his mother and carries the scars of that loss." Subaru spoke as though that were the most natural thing in the world, and this time it was Seishiro who was unsure of how to respond.

Not that he carried any scars about his mother's death—he was about as detached from other humans and as heartless about it as it got. He took after his father in that regard and even though he had been younger than Fuuma when she had killed herself—he didn't cry for her. Didn't miss her.

She had died and that had been that.

None of that mattered when it came to this child's answer, though—there was no way for him to know what kind of unfeeling monster Seishiro was and there was no doubt he assumed that the older man carried scars from her death.

Seishiro released his hold on Subaru and put his cigarette out in the ashtray while he collected his thoughts. Subaru was watching him with such a piercing look that he may have almost believed that the boy saw through him—but if that was the case, he would know better than to feel sadness on a monster's behalf.

"If you spend all of your time worrying about other people's emotional scars, you will only earn yourself more misery. Before you burn out, learn to shut your empathy off or you won't have energy for the things in life that matter." Seishiro took a step back to give his kitten space.

He honestly hoped that Subaru didn't actually take his advice.

Nothing would please him more than watching his kitten break. The naive kindness of the boy was beautiful, sure—but he could shatter that if he wanted to. He could shatter it into a million pieces and use those beautiful shards to paint a gorgeous nightmare.

He would give the boy time, of course—that was only fair—but he was hoping he got to pick his sweet kitten apart piece by piece until there was nothing left to ruin.

If he took Seishiro's advice, he might just be able to save himself, though.

"Maybe—" Subaru smiled kindly at him and it was just another nail in his coffin. "—but I think that maybe, if people were more empathetic to other's struggles, that the world might just be a better place."

"Maybe." Seishiro agreed to end the debate before he accidentally showed his true intentions.

A topic for another time—perhaps after he had given Subaru enough time to escape if he knew what was good for him.

"But to answer your question—Fuuma is probably safer with me than anyone in Tokyo. You can always bring him to me."

Seishiro wasn't overly fond of the brat—but his father would have his skin if he turned the kid away. Fuuma was getting old enough now that he was tolerable—at least some of the time, anyway.

His mother was not going to stop being a piece of shit—and if it meant that his little kitten would be dropping by for visits?

He could watch Fuuma.

"I'm glad he has someone like you looking out for him." Subaru looked back towards the slider and watched Fuuma for a moment. It was a good thing he did so. Seishiro could not help the wolfish smile at the boy's naive statement and more thoughts of all the ways he would like to ruin him flashed across his mind. "Um… I hope it's ok that I gave him my phone number. I had a feeling that things were not awesome at home."

"That is perfectly fine. I'm glad that my brother has someone like you looking out for him." Seishiro reached a hand out to brush the bangs out of Subaru's face and couldn't help by marvel at how silky his hair was. It did as he had intended—and he once again was the sole focus of that almost painfully kind stare.

His kitten was back to blushing and Seishiro made a mental note to see if that was because Subaru was attracted to him—or if he was just easily embarrassed by… well, everything the older man did, really.

Green eyes again looked away and Seishiro allowed it. He watched with both amusement and curiosity as the boy wrapped his arms back around his stomach, shifted his weight from foot to foot and took a deep breath.

"Um… do you think that maybe—" Subaru glanced back up at Seishiro to gauge his reaction and quickly looked away again. "—Can I have your phone number?"

The older man didn't bother to hide his wolfish grin this time and it only caused those cheeks to burn a brighter shade of red. "Of course."

"In—In case Fuuma doesn't get picked up again… to—to, um, see if you are home…" Subaru shifted his weight from foot to foot again as he clarified—and wasn't that amusing?

"I was going to give it to you because you're cute—but that works, too. Hand your phone over." Seishiro's tone was purposely blasé as he held his hand out expectantly. He had to wonder just how much darker red his kitten could get before he fainted.

Subaru squeaked out a quick 'Thank you'—followed by a hurried apology about his phone being in his bag before rushing inside to retrieve it.

Seishiro was going to have fun with this one.

That much was obvious.

Numbers were exchanged and Fuuma proudly announced that he had finished his homework as soon as they were both back indoors. Subaru offered to check it over and circled a few problems for Seishiro to check over when they got back—he wouldn't—but he promised to, nonetheless.

Subaru seemed much more at ease with Fuuma around and Seishiro listened to the two of them chatter as they rode down to the parking garage in the elevator. Upon Fuuma's bratty begging, Subaru agreed to sit with him in the back seat after flashing Seishiro an apologetic smile.

Anything to keep him from whining. Normally, he would just threatened to kick his ass or lock him in a closet until he decided to behave—but he wasn't going to do that in front of his sweet kitten.

For whatever reason, Subaru had gone from thinking of him as a dangerous man to someone… nice? A good brother?

Playing with Subaru would be less fun if that assumption was shattered too soon, so he had to act the part of doting older brother at least for a while.

Besides—he got to watch Subaru giggling and grinning at his idiot brother's bad puns for most of the ride—so it wasn't that bad of a deal. He was small enough to fit back there, too, and Seishiro had been only slightly shocked at how easily he got into the backseat of his coupé.

Dinner with a 7 year old was—oddly enough—not ruined and Seishiro was in a good mood when they finished their meal. He had enjoyed listening to Fuuma gush about his best friend Kamui—who was Subaru's little brother—only because Subaru was laughing so hard at some of the stories that he was practically smothering himself with his own hands in an attempt not to draw any attention to himself.

Subaru had enjoyed it just as much obviously, but he seemed very relieved when the brat clunked out on the ride to his apartment. Seishiro didn't have any trouble getting to Subaru's neighborhood, either—he lived on the bad side of town where his family did most of their work and he had even dealt to a few of his kitten's neighbors in recent months.

Because he was in the back, Seishiro had to turn the car off and get out to pull the seat forward to allow Subaru to climb out. Their goodbye was not long or drawn out—Subaru thanked him for the ride home and promised to stay in touch—and Seishiro lit one up and watched him head into the building.

When he finished his smoke, he got back into the car and checked his phone. No answer from his father—not surprisingly—and a message from his father's assistant that he was needed at a meeting tonight.

Again—not surprising in the least.

He would have to drop Fuuma off and head straight there to ensure he was not late.

Seishiro was losing patience when he pulled into the driveway of the home his little brother lived in with his mother. Fuuma always slept deep and didn't wake at being wrestled out of the car and carried into the house. Seishiro was not amused to have his hands full of a ragdoll of a kid and his backpack while also trying to wrestle the house key out of said backpack.

Fuuma's backpack was more or less a disaster zone and it took an infuriating amount of digging through old homework and candy wrappers before he snagged the lanyard that was attached to the single key.

It took a few failed attempts to match the key with the keyhole in the dark, but he finally hit the handle and pushed the heavy door open with his shoulder in little over a minute after reaching the damn door. The housekeeper must have been by in the last few days because the place wasn't a total disaster—and Seishiro only had to step over a few of his brother's toys and candy wrappers as he hit the stairs and headed for his bedroom.

Fuuma's room was a disaster and he had a much harder time navigating around the toys, clothes, dishes, and trash that littered the floor. The brat didn't stir as he was set onto the bed and his brother wrestled him out of his uniform jacket, belt and shoes before tossing the blanket over him.

Seishiro set his backpack on his desk and set the alarm for Fuuma before turning the light back off and closing the door.

He had no idea why he felt the need to check to see where the waste of space whore was ignoring her kid at—be it annoyance, anger or just a gut feeling, he couldn't tell you. As he stood outside the door to the master bedroom, he raised his fist ready to rap on the door but frozen at the sound his ears had picked up on.

He expected snoring—maybe silence—not creaking.

Creaking.

What the fuck was creaking like that?

Seishiro pushed the door open without knocking and hit the light.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me right now."

0o0o0

**As the CLAMP fandom is incredibly small we content creators do not receive much feedback on our stories. SeiSub fic's especially. If you liked what you are reading and wouldn't mind leaving a review to let us know how we are doing it would be greatly appreciated. If not that is totally ok too! I do have a co-author for this story! Malabava is a saint and 1000 thank yous to her! We are both smitten with this pairing, au, and fic so we will continue it no matter what buuuuut we hope you all give us your input as well. It really makes our days. **

**Thank you and see you in the next chapter! **


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own any of CLAMP's characters. Please enjoy!**

**0o0o0**

Hokuto and Kamui both had their faces pressed against the front window when Subaru got through the door of the apartment. He knew better than to underestimate his twin sister's strength and barely had time to brace himself before he was hug tackled by her and slammed against the closed door.

"You better get explaining!" Hokuto ignored her twin's pained gasp and half glared at him, taking a step back but keeping a firm grasp on his shoulders. "How did walking Fuuma home turn into you staying out late and getting dropped off by someone who looks like THAT!"

"That?" Subaru blinked at her owlishly and his sister released him with an annoyed huff. She stomped back over to the window and resumed her previous position, leaning over Kamui and cupping her hands on either side of her eyes to block the lights from obscuring her view.

"Handsome Subaru! And look at the car he is driving! Where did you meet him?"

Subaru sat down to take off his shoes and smiled softly to himself as he mentally ran through the events of the evening. It had been such an unusual night… but not a bad one.

It almost felt like a dream.

"That's Fuuma's older brother." Setting his shoes neatly in their usual spot, Subaru took a moment to straighten Hokuto's and Kamui's shoes, so that they were lined up neatly next to his own before heading over to the window to join his siblings.

Seishiro was still there. He was leaning against the side of his car, smoking a cigarette while looking at his phone—thankfully unaware of how the three siblings were watching him from their apartment window. "I'm not sure why, but no one was home at Fuuma's house… so we waited around for a little bit before we decided to see if his brother was home."

Subaru leaned away from the window and glanced at the kitchen. Not surprisingly, Hokuto had left in an absolute mess…

"Does Fuuma's older brother have a name?" Hokuto peeled herself away from the window and followed her twin into the kitchen. She started packing up the leftovers to be taken to school for lunch tomorrow while Subaru got to working on the sink full of dishes.

"Seishiro."

Subaru found himself smiling again. Seishiro was a nice name…

He would have to see which characters he used to spell it, later… Lord knows Hokuto would be pestering him for it sooner rather than la—

"How does he spell it?" Hokuto chirped and Subaru glanced over his shoulder to see she had magically amassed a notepad and pen and was watching him with an expectant look.

"I'll have to ask." Subaru sighed and turned his attention back to the sink. Hopefully, he would get a chance to become closer to Seishiro…

That wasn't the sort of thing you normally asked an acquaintance.

"What about his birthday?"

"I only _just _met him…" Subaru smiled softly as he heard Hokuto's dramatic sigh.

Not surprisingly, she had given up on cleaning and Subaru didn't need to look back to know that she had hopped up onto the counter and was watching him. Not that he minded. Hokuto cooked and Subaru did the dishes on any normal night.

They were both disasters in the kitchen… Hokuto's food was usually pretty good but she couldn't step foot in the kitchen without making a huge mess—Subaru, on the other hand, was tidy as he worked but nothing he made ever turned out edible.

"So? I would have asked." There was no doubt in Subaru's mind that his twin would have asked—she was brave like that.

He was not.

Subaru was the quiet, polite one who kept his hyperactive and overly friendly sister out of trouble on most days.

"I was a little preoccupied with other things." Like the fact that Seishiro had answered the door only half-dressed… or the fact that he had, for whatever reason, seen a gun tucked into his waistband and Seishiro hadn't explained why. The details of Fuuma's family life had been distracting… but he would wait until Kamui was asleep before he delved into that with his twin.

"Details, details, details! I can't believe you are holding out on your dear sister!" Hokuto started to lay the dramatics on thicker and Subaru shook his head slowly back and forth.

No matter who he met, where he found himself, or what new experiences he had—Subaru could always count on Hokuto to be just the same as ever. Not a drop of patience since the day she was born.

"You put Kamui to sleep while I finish the dishes?" Subaru offered. No need to explain—She knew what he meant.

The suspicious look he got from her was not exactly what he was expecting, but Subaru didn't have time to dwell on it. They were both quickly distracted by Kamui's loud protest at the mention of bedtime.

"No way!" Kamui had still been looking out the window and his head snapped around to shoot his older siblings an angry glare.

For a 5-year-old—Kamui could be downright terrifying when he wanted to be…

"If you take a bath without putting up a fight, I'll let you play your Gameboy in bed." Hokuto jumped off the counter and strategically placed herself between their little brother and his only escape route.

"With the charger?" Blue eyes narrowed and Kamui looked between his older siblings with a raised eyebrow.

"You know if I let you have the charger, you're going to stay up all night again and fall asleep in class." Hokuto had the sweetest smile on her face as she answered, but Kamui was too smart to fall for her sugar and spice act.

"Charger or no deal." Kamui crossed his arms over his chest and Subaru and Hokuto exchanged glances.

Dealing with Kamui was a balancing act. Their little brother was far too smart for his own good and he knew it. He was getting harder and harder to trick into good behavior and his negotiating skills were getting better by the day.

"We'll see…Come on now, bath time!" Hokuto held out a hand for her little brother to take but the child didn't budge.

"No way! That always means no." Kamui took a step back and Hokuto smiled a little brighter.

Subaru only hoped they didn't end up with another noise complaint if those two went at it again…

"No, it doesn't. How about we talk about it after you have a bath?" Kamui was back to death glaring and Subaru turned his attention back to the dishes.

Kamui hated rules and bedtime and baths most of all. Even with a 10 year age gap between the twins and their brother—Kamui just could never understand why little boys had more rules. Subaru couldn't say no to his sister's puppy dog eyes—he sure as heck couldn't say no to Kamui's accusing death stare…

Thankfully, Hokuto and Kamui were immune to each other. And Subaru did his best not to take sides and stay as far away from their bickering as possible.

Negotiations, not surprisingly, broke down within minutes and Subaru jumped at the loud crash of one of the kitchen chairs getting knocked over when Hokuto tried to catch Kamui as he slipped past her. Part of him was convinced that Hokuto actually enjoyed chasing their little brother through the small apartment every night—and Kamui very obviously enjoyed his nightly freedom dash… Subaru wouldn't mind the nightly game of tag if his siblings could be quiet while they played it.

Such was never the case.

It was a small apartment and though Kamui came up with new creative ways to avoid getting caught—it wasn't 45 seconds before high pitched giggles rang out from one of the bedrooms signifying that Hokuto had caught Kamui and was tickling the last of his energy out.

While bathtime, storytime and game boy negotiations finished up, Subaru finished the dishes, finished packing up leftovers, straightened up the dining table and living room and laid out everyone's clothes for tomorrow.

Hokuto emerged from the hallway after closing Kamui's door and headed straight for the freezer to snag the ice cream and a pair of spoons. The twins settled at the table and happily dug into their favorite late-night treat.

"So—" Hokuto popped a bite into her mouth and waggled her eyebrows at her twin expectantly and Subaru rolled his eyes.

"So I walked Fuuma home like I said I would and his mother didn't answer the door. Her car was in the driveway, but… well, we waited around for a while and he started to get really worried about why she wasn't answering the door and he couldn't find his key." Subaru hadn't felt good about leaving a little kid home alone even if he could find his key.

Given what Seishiro had told him… well, it was probably a good idea he hadn't.

They knew Fuuma didn't have a perfect family life… Subaru had to walk him home on more than one occasion but his mother had always answered the door and apologized to him profusely.

She had seemed frazzled and tired any time he had seen her—but Subaru never thought she had seemed as though she were under the influence of something.

"I asked him if he maybe knew his dad's or another family member's phone number and offered to bring him over here to wait until we could get ahold of someone and he told me that his brother didn't live too far. Fuuma knew the name of the complex… so off we went—hoping he would be home." Given how unreliable Fuuma's mother was—you would think the rest of the family would have at least made sure the poor kid knew who to call when this happened.

"Was it really not that far?" Hokuto popped another bite in her mouth and Subaru shrugged.

No.

It had been far.

Almost on the other side of the city, actually…

"Well—it was a bit of a hike… but Fuuma was crying and I felt so bad! It isn't like we have any way of letting his family know we have him and it was too late to tell the school in case they called looking for him and—"

"How far?" Hokuto said in a teasing tone, looking a little more than slightly amused as her twin rubbed at the back of his neck and glanced away.

"Ginza..." Subaru didn't have to look back to know she had pulled a face with the dramatic sigh that sounded.

"Subaruuuuu— you could have just left a note on the door… You really went all the way over there without even knowing for sure that was where he lived? Or if he was home?" Subaru shrugged again and Hokuto shook her head. "That was dangerous, you know? For all you know, the brother could have been an ugly molester instead of a handsome prince!"

Subaru was glad he had snuck in a bite of ice cream and didn't have to respond to that right away.

While he didn't know if he would classify Seishiro as a prince… he was more than handsome enough to be one… and he did seem very kind… but Subaru wasn't so sure about him.

He appreciated that the older man had happily taken Fuuma in.

Hokuto was right, though… that hadn't been his smartest move… But Fuuma had started crying and was getting louder—so off they went.

"I was actually really surprised because I had a complex name, the floor he lived on, and that was it." Thankfully the doorman at the building told them the actual apartment number when Subaru explained what was going on. Else they might have had to just start trying doors… which would have been an experience.

"With a little help, we found it without much trouble and knocked on the door... I was about to give up because no one was answering, Fuuma was two seconds from sobbing and I really didn't want to make a scene." Subaru took a break to have a bite of ice cream—if he didn't, Hokuto was going to eat it all and they had stopped carrying the chocolate peppermint flavor now that the holidays were over.

He also wanted to choose his words carefully for the next part of the story…

There were a few details he was going to leave out.

"You're not usually that brave. I'm impressed." Hokuto was the braver of the two—Subaru was painfully shy and not very adventurous…

"Well, I wasn't going to just abandon him." He hadn't been thrilled about going to a side of town her rarely visited, but what could he do? Fuuma had been so upset! "Anyway! I knock one more time and the door flies open and I almost have a heart attack…"

Hokuto chuckled and Subaru looked away to hide the blush that was creeping onto his cheeks at remembering how Seishiro had looked… The blush didn't go unnoticed but Hokuto knew better than to interrupt him in the middle of a story to tease.

"I think we might have woken him up… but he was really thankful that I brought Fuuma over and insisted on giving me a ride home and invited me in to wait while he got dressed—"

"Got dressed?" Hokuto had a spoonful of ice cream halfway to her mouth and paused to stare at her twin with an accusing look. "What was he wearing?"

Subaru blinked at Hokuto a few times and had to wonder why she was smirking at him like that…

"Um… pants…?" He wasn't sure what kind of pants they were per se—he had noticed how nicely muscular he was and how very _very _shirtless those pecs and abs had been—and then he had focused on Seishiro's socks because he didn't want to stare…

He would have mentioned that Seishiro's socks had been black and looked very cozy—but that seemed odd and he knew as soon as he started rambling, Hokuto was going to think that there was something he wasn't telling her and—

Well, there was.

He was not going to mention the gun to her…

It was not easy to lie to Hokuto. No matter how carefully he rehearsed the fib or how little the lie… The second she caught wind of it, she would bully it out of him, and Subaru was still making up his mind about whether or not Seishiro was…

Safe?

Subaru really hadn't had time to process any of it.

Finding himself on the other side of Tokyo with a crying 7-year-old was already out of his element. Throw in the unusual encounter with Seishiro as well as the information about their family life…

It was a lot to process. Subaru would come to Hokuto and tell her about the gun after he had a chance to think through everything that had happened… Poor Fuuma and his troubles with his mother were the priority now.

"Just pants?" Hokuto's smirk turned into a grin and Subaru took another bite of their icy treat and hoped that the chill might keep him from blushing more than he already was.

He didn't even know why he was blushing like this—or why he had been so embarrassed around Seishiro to begin with. He had been perfectly kind and hadn't done anything to warrant shyness form Subaru—if anything he had gone out of his way to put the younger boy at ease.

Well… after the whole half-naked introduction.

"And socks—" Subaru mentally kicked himself—he should have left that detail out—he could see the gears turning behind his sisters green eyes. "But he's a boy, so—well, it's not so weird—like I said, I thought we had woken him up." he looked away from Hokuto and sighed.

It wasn't that odd or uncommon for boys to sleep shirtless…Subaru and Kamui both slept shirtless on hot summer nights, after all—So why was she looking at him like that?

If would be very different if Hokuto had been the one in Subaru's shoes—but Subaru was a boy.

It was totally appropriate.

"So the shirtless man who is gorgeous enough to be a model… invites my shy introverted brother into his house, and you gladly accept, because..?" Hokuto was still smiling that I-know-something-you-don't-know smile and Subaru was pointedly ignoring it.

"He insisted?" When he thought about it—he didn't have a good answer for that?

He could have turned the offer down and left. After all, it could have been dangerous if Seishiro hadn't turned out to be such a nice person…

"No other reason?"

"Maybe to make sure Fuuma was ok?" The way Hokuto's brows furrowed at that statement had Subaru mentally kicking himself again.

He could not mention the gun…

That would not go over well.

Seishiro never really explained why he had a gun—and he had confirmed that he most definitely was not a police officer—but he must have had a good reason.

Probably.

"Why wouldn't he be ok?" Hokuto's tone wiped the blush off Subaru's face and he told as much of the truth as he could.

"He seemed to calm down a lot when his brother opened the door… but Fuuma had been so upset that I just wanted to stay with him and make sure he was feeling ok being left with his brother." That part wasn't a lie—that was the only reason he had gone in after he had seen the gun.

He hadn't known exactly how he would have helped Fuuma if he wasn't safe with Seishiro—but something in him wouldn't just let him leave without making sure. Subaru was glad he had. The conversation on the balcony as well as Seishiro's easy smiles at dinner, had totally put his mind at ease.

"—anyway—" Subaru continued before she could ask any more questions and Hokuto didn't protest. "—I helped him with his homework for a bit and when his brother came back out, we talked on the balcony…"

He didn't bother to hide his frown from his twin as he mentally replayed the bulk of the balcony conversation. About Fuuma's mother and Seishiro's lack of a mother…

Subaru had suspected that Fuuma didn't have a perfect home life, but it was obviously far worse than he had first guessed. He hadn't wanted to talk about Fuuma's home life in front of Kamui—but Hokuto needed to know. Who knew when the next time Fuuma would be forgotten by his mother would be, and Subaru might very well be home sick or busy.

"Did something bad happen?" Hokuto's scowl screamed currently-plotting-murder, and Subaru had no clue what she was assuming.

He was pretty sure he didn't want to know and Subaru shook his head quickly back and forth.

"No—But Seishiro filled me in on a little bit about Fuuma's home life… It's not good." People might argue that Subaru, Hokuto and Kamui had a questionable home life themselves—which they did—but they had a happy and safe home to return to.

"Seishiro is a very sweet big brother… but I think I might have been worrying again unnecessarily?" Subaru sighed and Hokuto continued to silently wait for him to continue.

While normally, that was something he would have appreciated… his mind was stuck on why Seishiro would possibly have a gun.

That wasn't the issue right now, though.

"He wasn't—it's not that he did anything wrong—" Hokuto still didn't make a peep and Subaru turned back to face her after he made up his mind on how to address it.

"I offered to take Fuuma home with me in case it was too much of an imposition." He would skip mentions of the gun—the reason for his initial unease that led to Seishiro telling him about their family was unimportant. "To just leave a note for his mother so she would know where he was at and Seishiro told me she wouldn't notice… that she forgot about Fuuma a lot… because she is always getting high...

Hokuto's expression softened and she scooted her chair closer and reached out to give her twin a quick hug. She was more aware than anyone how sensitive Subaru could be… He really couldn't help the terrible feeling he got when he heard sad things like that—especially when it came to people close to him.

Fuuma was a little odd—but Kamui loved his best friend, so Subaru cared deeply for the goofy little boy. To think he was holding so much stress and worry about if his mother was going to remember to pick him up from school…

Was she feeding him? Did he have to fend for himself? Who was looking out for him?

Tears prickled at his eyes and he took a deep breath.

Subaru hated that he was a cry baby…

He was getting better at controlling his tears, but just the thought of what it would be like to have an absentee mother when you were as sweet and desperate for attention as little Fuuma…

"It's good that he has a brother like Seishiro, then, Subaru. He's gonna be ok." Hokuto released him and flashed him her Everything-is-going-to-be-ok smile and he nodded his head. "Don't forget that he has us, too! Did you make sure to tell Seishiro that Fuuma is always welcome to hang out with us?"

"Yes… I asked for his number just in case I ever needed to let someone know we have him." Seishiro had thankfully already been planning to give it to him…

Though Subaru was still unsure as to how he wanted to take the meaning of the reason as to why Seishiro had already planned to ask him for it…

"Well, that's all you can really do." Hokuto offered and Subaru nodded again, his gaze falling down to his lap.

He wished there was more he could do, but that was something. Between Seishiro and them—Fuuma would have two places to go if he needed it.

"Fuuma looked really happy to be with his brother. Seishiro insisted on taking us to get dinner before he dropped me off and Fuuma had a blast telling us all about Kamui and his class. I don't think the two of them spend much time together." That, too, was a sad fact.

Subaru couldn't imagine not being tied at the hip with his brother and sister. They were his best friends, after all—he had no idea what he would do without them. Even if Fuuma and Seishiro didn't spend much time together… he was glad they had each other.

But at least some time was better than no time.

"Well, I'm glad you made a new friend, Subaru." Hokuto took another bite of ice cream and Subaru felt his cheeks flush again.

That was a bit of a stretch…

He and Seishiro had obviously gotten along, but he wouldn't go so far as to say they had become friends. Subaru hoped that he never needed to see Seishiro again because he hoped that Fuuma's mother started to straighten up and there was no need for unplanned trips across Tokyo to his brother's high rise apartment.

Though… maybe it wasn't silly to assume that Seishiro might want to hang out again sometime? He was anything but easy to read, but the older man did seem to be enjoying himself. His soft smile and gentle prodding questions were engaging and his interest seemed genuine.

There was still a slight ache of disappointment, knowing that that wasn't likely. Subaru hadn't thought it polite to ask how old Seishiro was—but given his car, apartment and independent lifestyle—he was old enough to have no interest in childish friendships.

Hokuto, of course, noticed his mood but she must have chalked it up to feelings over the truth about Fuuma's home life because she didn't press Subaru. Which—that was bothering him, too.

The rest was just...confusing, at the moment.

Normally, Subaru had very little interest in making new friends and the classmates he considered good friends he had met through Hokuto. Wanting to get to know Seishiro better as well as spending more time with him were not usually how he felt about new acquaintances.

Hokuto headed to bed as soon as they had finished off their ice cream and Subaru hurried through his homework while yawning and checking his phone almost obsessively. Why he thought Seishiro might be texting him after just dropping him off just over an hour ago, he couldn't tell you…

Why he got more and more disappointed every time he checked his phone was also a mystery to him. Subaru very obviously wanted Seishiro to text him—to confirm that the older man was just as interested in getting to know him—but he didn't end up texting him and Subaru had no idea what to say to initiate a conversation.

After staying up far later than he should have, waiting to see if he would get a text message—then trying and failing to come up with something to send Seishiro that wouldn't seem weird, Subaru settled on maybe asking Fuuma tomorrow to see what his brother was like.

When Fuuma didn't show up for school the next day—or the day after—Hokuto helped Subaru draft a simple message to Seishiro to check in and see if everything was ok.

Seishiro never responded.

Subaru made himself sick with worry when Fuuma missed the rest of the week. His mind ran wild with thoughts of Seishiro using that gun on his poor brother… of Fuuma crying for help and no one being there to save him.

It wasn't until the following Monday that he would see Fuuma again.

Kamui had been sour all week over his friend's absence from school. Being not only the smallest but also the youngest in his class due to skipping a grade meant that poor Kamui dealt with more than his fair share of bullies. Fuuma was Kamui's only friend and his absence from school left the little boy surprisingly clingy.

Subaru had sent Hokuto on ahead to their school. She had to get to the student council room to set up for the meeting before the upperclassmen arrived. They were supposed to do it together, but given how hard Kamui had tried to convince his older siblings he was deathly ill and therefore needed to stay home from school, Subaru had decided to walk him to his classroom and see if he could get any information from the boy's teacher.

Not only to make sure she was aware of the bullying—but also to see if perhaps she knew why Fuuma was absent from school in the first place.

Kamui tugged hard on Subaru's hand as soon as he got through the front door of the classroom. He let go as soon as he was through the threshold and his eyes settled on the person causing his little brother's excitement.

Fuuma was back—and so was Seishiro.

The Sakurazuka brothers were standing in front of the classroom. Seishiro was dressed in a black suit, maroon shirt, and black tie. He had a hand resting on Fuuma's shoulder as he spoke quietly to the teacher who was nodding compassionately at whatever he was saying.

As curious as Subaru had been about Seishiro—after a quick glance he turned his attention to the younger brother. Fuuma didn't look anywhere near as put together as his brother. While there was no contact aside from the hand on his shoulder, Fuuma might as well be hanging off his brother, given how close he was standing to him. His uniform might be clean and wrinkle-free, but pale skin and dark circles under his eyes were dead giveaways that not all was well.

Something was wrong.

Subaru called after Kamui when his little brother pulled free of his hold, but there wasn't anything he could do to stop the boy from jumping his friend. Normally, he would let the boys do as they pleased—but Kamui knocking into Fuuma like that caused him to fall against Seishiro and interrupted the adults' conversation.

As if that wasn't bad enough, after Kamui's little stunt had pulled in the entire room's attention, he decided now was the perfect time to 'lecture' Fuuma about 'ditching' him with 'these idiots' and that the older boy better had a good excuse.

"Kamui!" Subaru hurried across the room and pulled his little brother off of Fuuma. "That is not nice. Apologize."

"He's the one that should be apologizing for abandoning me!" his little brother answered a bit too loudly but didn't otherwise struggle as he was hoisted up and set back on his feet a polite distance away.

Subaru tried to ignore the looks of everyone in the room as he turned Kamui by his shoulders to look at him. Crouching down, he spoke quietly to the boy whose eyes were shining with tears that were threatening to fall. "Fuuma didn't abandon you and you cannot call your classmates names, Kamui. You not only knocked your friend over but you interrupted an adult conversation in the process."

Kamui scowled at Subaru for a moment. He knew his little brother had had a rough couple of days and as much as he hated to scold him in front of his classmates—he needed to apologize.

"So this little spitfire is Kamui?" Seishiro flashed a kind smile their way and Subaru straightened immediately. Keeping his hands on his little brother's shoulders, he positioned the boy in front of him and when Subaru bowed and offered an apology for the interruption—Kamui had no choice but to do the same.

"Little boys often get overly excited. No harm done." Seishiro dismissed their apology and Kamui wiggled away from him and grumbled an apology to the teacher before jumping Fuuma again, who was actually paying attention this time.

The older man watched him do so with apparent amusement rather than annoyance and Subaru relaxed, knowing that no offense had been taken. Seishiro focused his attention solely on Subaru for a moment before glancing back at the teacher. "Just let me know if he's having any issues today."

"Of course Mr. Sakurazuka. I am sure being around his friends will help Fuuma start to get back to a feeling of normalcy." She offered a reserved smile and Seishiro gave a single nod before he refocused on Subaru.

"Did you need to speak with the teacher as well?"

Subaru blinked dumbly a few times before his eyes shot down to look at his feet. "Ah—yes please excuse me."

Seishiro squeezed his shoulder as he turned and left the classroom and Subaru apologized to the teacher one more time over Kamui's poor manners. She assured him that she would keep an eye out for any bullying and confirmed that his brother had been just as difficult at school as he had been at home.

All in all, he was running late for school by the time he managed to excuse himself. He had to jog up the street to his own school in order not to be late for his first class and the look Hokuto gave him as he slipped into his seat a few seconds after the bell rang was met with an apologetic smile.

He hoped Fuuma was ok.

Subaru didn't know what Seishiro might have needed to stop in… but he hoped that nothing major had gone wrong.

He stuck close to his twin for the rest of the day and tried to focus on classes and social obligations rather than worry. Hokuto reassured him that Fuuma would more than likely tell Kamui—and if he was in one piece, that was all that mattered.

For all they knew, he had just gotten a bad bout of the flu and Seishiro had been in to hand in a doctor's note…

Hokuto skipped shopping with a few of her girlfriends to go with Subaru to pick up Kamui. They found their little brother near their usual meeting spot behind the school next to the swings—and rather than playing with the rest of the kids in their class—he and Fuuma were just sitting on the swings.

Hokuto and Subaru greeted the boys in unison and while Fuuma managed a smile—Kamui simply jumped off the swing and ran up to Subaru—throwing his arms around his brother's waist and hiding his face.

Okay…

"Bad day?" Subaru hugged him back nice and tight—letting go when his little brother wiggled.

Kamui shook his head back and forth quickly and gave both his siblings an impressive frown before peeking back over at his best friend. "Can Fuuma come to our house today?"

Hokuto shrugged after they caught each other's eye—it wouldn't be a problem—they were just going to do homework and cook, anyways.

"Sure." Kamui sagged in relief and rewrapped himself around Subaru. Looking over at Fuuma, he smiled softly and chose his words carefully. "Do you need me to call your mother and let her know where you're going to be?"

Kamui squeezed him a little tighter and Fuuma shook his head back and forth. "No. Mom died, so she can't answer the phone anymore."

She.

She what?

"Can you call Seishiro instead?"

Subaru blinked dumbly a few times and Kamui pulled away and tugged at his hand. "His brother is going to put him in daycare if he can't stay with us…"

Subaru felt tears sting in his eyes, nodded his head and dug out his phone. Hokuto was nowhere near as sensitive as her brother and stepped in to peel Kamui off of him and answer poor Fuuma on his behalf.

He wasn't sure what she told him—he was to focused on trying to get his hands to stop shaking at what that meant.

Had she not come to pick him up the other day because she had… she had died?

**0o0o0**

**Hey lovelies! **

**I hope you enjoyed and would love to hear what you say! The main fic in this series is also looking to get an update in a day or two so please keep an eye out! **

**I usually have a lot to say by the end of a chapter but noooot so much today. I am just really happy to be getting back on track when it comes to working my creative outlets and writing my fics. Life has just been insane lately but this is truly what I love to do and I missed it! **

**As for notes on the story itself... I think I just need to let a lot of the details slowly reveal themselves and hope that things fall into place as planned? I have gotten good and bad feedback as to the characterization of Seishiro so I would love to see what everyone thinks about him, as well as Fuuma, Hokuto, Subaru, and Kamui as the nuances and differences from cannon start to reveal themselves? I don't want to give anything away so that is all I will say.**

**As always I would love to hear what you think! Good or bad!**

**Until next time!**


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